Richard Findlay

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(5 November 1943 – 8 July 2017) was a Scottish broadcaster who served as Chairman of

STV STV may refer to: Television * Satellite television ** Direct-broadcast satellite television (DBSTV) Channels and stations * STV (TV channel), the brand name of ITV broadcasters in central and northern Scotland ** Scottish Television, now le ...

and CEO of

Scottish Radio Holdings Scottish Radio Holdings (SRH) was a Scottish media company which owned 22 radio stations, and around 30 local newspapers in the United Kingdom and Ireland. History SRH had its origins in the 1970s when Glasgow was awarded the third licence for ...

, amongst other roles.

Life

Findlay was born Dietrich Rudolf Barth in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

on 5 November 1943, during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. He did not know his father, Albert Oskar Rudolf Barth, who was killed somewhere in East Prussia, having earlier won the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. His mother Ines Ilse Ingeborg Barth ("Inge") worked as a translator for the British Occupation Force in Berlin. There she met Captain Ian Douglas Findlay, and married him. The couple returned to Scotland and brought Dietrich with them, along with his older sister Linde. For obvious reasons they decided to give him a new name when they arrived, and Dietrich became Richard Findlay. Having a strong artistic flair Richard studied at the

Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland ( gd, Conservatoire Rìoghail na h-Alba), formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama ( gd, Acadamaidh Rìoghail Ciùil is Dràma na h-Alba) is a conservatoire of dance, drama, music, production, and ...

Glasgow Glasgow ( ; sco, Glesca or ; gd, Glaschu ) is the most populous city in Scotland and the fourth-most populous city in the United Kingdom, as well as being the 27th largest city by population in Europe. In 2020, it had an estimated pop ...

. He graduated in 1963 and obtained a 6 month contract with the BBC. His debut was as a monk in a production of

The Brothers Karamazov ''The Brothers Karamazov'' (russian: Братья Карамазовы, ''Brat'ya Karamazovy'', ), also translated as ''The Karamazov Brothers'', is the last novel by Russian author Fyodor Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky spent nearly two years writing '' ...

. His next role was playing a schoolteacher in an STV drama series "This Man Craig" (1966/7) and then "The Revenue Men" (1967/8). However, he felt uncomfortable in front of the camera. After spending some time as a

continuity announcer In broadcasting, continuity or presentation (or station break in the U.S. and Canada) is announcements, messages and graphics played by the broadcaster between specific programmes. It typically includes programme schedules, announcement of t ...

for

BBC Scotland BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland. It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Irelan ...

he was asked to set up an English language radio station in

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the List of Asian countries by area, fifth-largest country in Asia ...

. In 1972 he got a job with the COI Radio Division in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

and moved to a 14th century

tithe barn A tithe barn was a type of barn used in much of northern Europe in the Middle Ages for storing rents and tithes. Farmers were required to give one-tenth of their produce to the established church. Tithe barns were usually associated with the ...

Crowborough Crowborough is a town and civil parish in East Sussex, England, in the Weald at the edge of Ashdown Forest in the High Weald Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, 7 miles (11 km) south-west of Royal Tunbridge Wells and 33 mile ...

in East Sussex. In 1973 he moved to the privately run and newly created

Capital Radio Capital London is a radio station owned and operated by the Global media company as part of its national Capital FM Network. As Capital Radio it was launched in the London area in 1973 as one of Britain's first two commercial radio stations. ...

in their newsroom. In the same year he created Waverley Radio in an attempt to control the East of Scotland radio franchise, but this was awarded to the rival

Radio Forth Radio Forth is a group of two Independent Local Radio stations serving Edinburgh, Lothians and Fife. Radio Forth is owned and operated by Bauer, based at studios in Edinburgh and forms part of Bauer's Hits Radio network and Greatest Hits Radio net ...

. However, Radio Forth recruited Findlay as programme controller, and he later rose to be Chief Executive. In 1991 a merger with

Radio Clyde Radio Clyde is a group of two Independent Local Radio stations serving Glasgow and West Central Scotland. Radio Clyde is owned and operated by Bauer Media Audio UK, Bauer, based at studios in Clydebank, West Dunbartonshire and forms part of Baue ...

created

(SRH) then working with James Gordon, Lord Gordon. In 1995 they expanded into publishing, creating

Score Press Score or scorer may refer to: *Test score, the result of an exam or test Business * Score Digital, now part of Bauer Radio * Score Entertainment, a former American trading card design and manufacturing company * Score Media, a former Canadian m ...

which ran 45 publications. He stood down as Chief Executive in 2004 and soon after the company was sold to

Emap Ascential plc, formerly EMAP, is a British business-to-business media business specialising in exhibitions & festivals and information services. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History Ri ...

for £394 million. In 2003 he was brought in to set up the

National Theatre of Scotland The National Theatre of Scotland, established in 2006, is the national theatre company of Scotland. The company has no theatre building of its own; instead it tours work to theatres, village halls, schools and site-specific locations, both at h ...

and served as its first Chairman. In 2007 he was brought in to rescue STV as its new Chairman with Rob Woodward as CEO. His final role was the rescue of

Creative Scotland Creative Scotland ( gd, Alba Chruthachail ; sco, Creative Scotlan) is the development body for the arts and creative industries in Scotland. Based in Edinburgh, it is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government. The or ...

. He died following a short illness on 8 July 2017, at the age of 73. He is buried in

Dean Cemetery The Dean Cemetery is a historically important Victorian cemetery north of the Dean Village, west of Edinburgh city centre, in Scotland. It lies between Queensferry Road and the Water of Leith, bounded on its east side by Dean Path and o ...

. The highly unusual grave depicts a war-time radio on top. It lies on the north side of the main entrance path.

Family

In 1971 he married Elspeth Macbeth Menzies. They had two sons and a daughter.

Positions held

see *Chief Executive Officer of

*Chief Executive of

*Chief Executive of Score Press *Chairman of STV *Chairman of the

*Chairman of the

Royal Lyceum Theatre The Royal Lyceum Theatre is a 658-seat theatre in the city of Edinburgh, Scotland, named after the Theatre Royal Lyceum and English Opera House, the residence at the time of legendary Shakespearean actor Henry Irving. It was built in 1883 by ...

*Chairman of Lothian Health Board *Governor and Fellow of the

Royal Conservatoire of Scotland The Royal Conservatoire of Scotland ( gd, Conservatoire Rìoghail na h-Alba), formerly the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama ( gd, Acadamaidh Rìoghail Ciùil is Dràma na h-Alba) is a conservatoire of dance, drama, music, production, and ...

*Governor of

*Board Member of New Wave Media *Rector of

Heriot-Watt University Heriot-Watt University ( gd, Oilthigh Heriot-Watt) is a public research university based in Edinburgh, Scotland. It was established in 1821 as the School of Arts of Edinburgh, the world's first mechanics' institute, and subsequently granted uni ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Findlay, Richard 1943 births 2017 deaths Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Mass media people from Berlin Scottish broadcasters